COLUMBUS, Ohio — Episcopal delegates asked church leaders Wednesday to “exercise restraint” when considering openly gay candidates for bishop, a vote that ended days of painful debate but fell far short of demands to preserve Anglican unity by banning gay bishops.

The measure calls on Episcopal prelates to “exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration” of candidates for bishop “whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church.” However it is nonbinding and — in a sign of the deep split over gay clergy — at least one bishop vowed immediately to ignore it.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has been trying to broker a truce between conservative and liberal archbishops worldwide ever since the Episcopal Church consecrated Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Robinson, who was elected in 2003, lives with his longtime male partner. Anglican conservatives — a majority in the 77-million-member communion — hold that the Bible prohibits gay sex.

Episcopal delegates did vote to affirm the denomination’s commitment to the Anglican fellowship; the church is the U.S. arm of the communion. But a proposal for a temporary moratorium on gay bishops never hit the convention floor.

On Tuesday, the House of Deputies rebuffed a measure that would have urged dioceses to “refrain from” choosing bishops in same-gender relationships. Some saw its language as sending a slightly tougher signal.

Wednesday’s vote, just hours before the end of a nine-day meeting, won praise from Williams but pleased neither American conservatives nor advocates for full inclusion of gays.

The Anglican Communion Network, a group of 10 Episcopal dioceses and more than 900 parishes, is considering splitting from the church and will meet at the end of July to decide its next step.

A group of 20 progressive bishops issued a statement saying the language in the resolution “too much echoes past attempts by the church to limit participation of those perceived to be inadequate for full inclusion in the ordained ministry.”

Robinson, the New Hampshire bishop, criticized conservative threats to break away. “We have never threatened to leave this church and we’re not threatening to do so now,” he said of gay and lesbian Episcopalians. “We love this church and we love the God that we worship in and through the church.”

Williams released a statement saying that the “devoted work” of the convention shows how strong its concern is “to seek reconciliation” with Anglicans. He said the communion will “need to reflect carefully on the significance of what has been decided before we respond more fully.”

Deputies approved the compromise measure only after last-minute pleas for action from outgoing Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who will become presiding bishop in November.

Jefferts Schori told delegates she did not like the resolution, since “I am fully committed to the full inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in this church,” but said the measure would give the church some time to find a “common mind.”

Asked the practical effect of the measure, Griswold said only that, “the resolution itself has to be lived and the seriousness with which it is taken must be lived.”

Bishop John Chane of the Diocese of Washington, D.C., said immediately after it passed that he would not follow it. “My own understanding of my responsibility as a bishop is to live into the integrity of my office,” Chane said in a statement.

Other Episcopal bishops are likely to do the same.

Anglicans had also asked for a moratorium on developing official prayers for blessing same-sex couples. It also was rejected.